The Y2K Aesthetic: Conceptualizing The Future We Live In
What millennium design trends tell us about our changing relationship with tech
Every so many decades, technology seems as if to take a massive leap forward and, in the process, remolds the very fabric of society and culture. Take the space race and moon landings or the mainstream arrival of the World Wide Web. These are things that changed not only how we viewed the then present but the future and our place within that future.
Eventually, all technologies become mundane and taken for granted. But while they are just emerging, society can sometimes seem as if to go through a kind of metamorphosis. Arguably, we’re going through something similar right now with the mainstream arrival of AI and VR. On one hand, there’s a lot of excitement, hype, and wonder. But there are also plenty of legitimate concerns and a feeling of unease.
Yet, to understand what is happening in the present, we might do well to look back into the past. And there are few better examples of how culture and technology can merge and transform one another than the short-lived design trends that occurred around the year 2000, often referred to collectively as the “Y2K aesthetic.” These were trends that were so much more than “trends,” but a reflection of people coming to terms…
